


Honeypot Fail

by Azhwi, LosttotheHoping



Series: The Tenten & Kakuzu Shrine [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Bounty Hunters, F/M, Mentor/Protégé, Minor Hyuuga Hinata/Hidan, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Burn, WIP, minor gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-09 06:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17401481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azhwi/pseuds/Azhwi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LosttotheHoping/pseuds/LosttotheHoping
Summary: “Like I said, you're going to play bait for me. I'm running low on funds,” which was a lie, “so I'm going bounty hunting. And you've got the right kind of doe-eyed innocence going. You'll make perfect bait.”(Re-posting for better structure)





	1. Chapter 1

The girl in the inn was not a typical beauty.  She was tall and slender, with long dark hair and eyes.  Her legs were crossed at the knees, ankles hooked around the leg of the stool she sat on.

She was young, he noted.  Very young. Nonetheless, he could track the muscles under her smooth tanned skin, those of an athlete.  Or a kunoichi.

To be fair, she wasn't the only nin in the room pretending to be a civilian, but she was by far the most interesting.  He looked closer, cataloging details and their meanings, and shortly came to a conclusion.

Konoha.

And of course, that ape shit Hidan had to be off chasing tail at a time like this.

Oh well.   _More fun for me,_ Kakuzu thought, and got up.

xXx

Back when they were still in chuunin groups, her friends had despaired and, being the friends that they were, they were blunt.

_Tenten, no. You can’t play bait. You can barely run a honeypot mission. You’d punch a guy, or girl, the moment they said something crass. That one time doesn’t count; the man was a masochist and you were already in a scene._

They were right. For some reason or other back then, she could never quite pull off the normal towns-folk look. The civvies picked up in the clues she knew she wasn’t covering and, more often than not, another kunoichi had to step in.

Several years later, now several of them had made it to jounin, and with it came fine-tuning of skills. In the end, while her masked trainer had sworn up and down on her reputation that Tenten would never fool another nin, she would at least fool a civilian.

She still had her doubts.

Then again, the side eyes she was receiving were mostly from the other nin and military spies. So, maybe sensei did know what she was talking about.

Thankfully, the target this week was a normal banker who had been deep in the pockets of the local yakuza gang. So unless her fellow plainclothes lurkers were after either her or the target, they’d have no issues.

Today was all about staking out the area. No confrontations, no reveals, no ripples. They had been given intel on where the man had been last seen, but that had been days old. Fresh eyes on the target and info on where the gang was hiding him.

Sipping at her wine, Tenten sighed. Her night had been dull, long, and, so far, unfruitful.  _I suppose that’s a good thing, considering_ … Considering that one of the bigger nin in civvie clothes had been giving her a keen twice over and was now standing.

 _Why didn’t I take Ino up on that offer of extra training?_ On a good day, her friend could fool even Hatake.

The man walked over to the bar right next to her, literally just out of her immediate reach.  “Sake, the house brew,” he said to the bartender, not even looking at her. She didn't for a moment think it was all some strange coincidence, though.  She wasn't stupid.

This was further confirmed when he spoke.  “What's a kid like you doing out here?”

Raising a brow, she glanced at the nearest shiny surface and winced internally when their eyes met in the reflection. “Taking in the sights,” she said mildly, as she let her ankles slip loose from the rungs.

“Yeah, and I'm a goddamn martyr,” he drawled.  “It's gotta be something specific to Edina, something your  _princess_ would be interested in.  Something recent. So who in the local yakuza are you waiting for?”

If only the other nin would leave her alone or weren’t after her or her target. That was her earlier wish and she had possibly cursed herself and this mission.  _Does it count if I knock his head against the wood counter?_ Yeah, it would, but it would start a brawl most of the bar wouldn’t even see.

On one hand, the night was no longer dull and she was now  _glad_ her target hadn’t walked in. It was possible she had the wrong district completely. The banker may have just been passing through as the gang was rampant throughout half the city.

On the other… this nin was really being pushy. As well as rude.

She cut him an irked look as he broke off from casing the room again. “Just the sights,” she repeated. “That’s it. And if you have an issue with that, that’s fine. I’m leaving.”

He shrugged, acid green eyes watching her closely now.  Behind the mask, she couldn't tell what expression he was wearing.  “Next time, try something you're better at. Or at the very least interested in.”

“Practice,” she replied with a small shrug.  _Very rude_. Who was he to give advice? They shouldn’t even be looking at each other if he had no business with her! “Enjoy your night.”

The last of her wine was abandoned and she gave him a nod before heading for the bathroom.

It was incredibly off-putting to shunshin out from the back hall where it stank of piss, but her sensei had yelled at her the last time she simply walked out the door.  _Standards, ugh_.

xXx

The next time Kakuzu ran into the woman - with Hidan off  _again_ doing fuck-knows-what - he was unfortunately bathing.  At least he was wearing pants. And there she was, wide eyes taking him in.  Inanely, he wondered if this was karma in the works.

“Well?  Don't just stare.  Scream or something,” he bit out after a long moment.

Somewhat disappointingly, the girl didn’t scream. She did let out a rather muffled yelp and vanished straight back into the undergrowth.

Kakuzu sighed.  He darted after her.  Surprisingly, she lead him on a satisfyingly hard chase before his clone caught her around the waist, and he himself grabbed her by the throat and shoved her down on the rock.  “Unlucky girl.”

Steel sliding in through the threads of his stomach made him want to smile though and she bared her teeth as she slipped a blade into the clone. Must have bit her tongue on the way down too.

“Bye,” was all the warning he had before a getting a face full of fire.

Kakuzu switched with his clone, but still got a singed arm for his trouble. _Good girl_ , he thought, and didn't check his grin.  His weapons were parried midair, her reaction time was  _phenomenal_ …  The next time he was within reach of her, he initiated a brief taijutsu spar.   _Toned body_ , he finished his mental assessment,  _and hard hits._

“I was wrong.”  He spun her and put her in a headlock.  They both froze for a moment, breaths heaving.  Finally, “You  _are_ interested, just not in what I thought.”

“Wha--” There was a stutter in her chakra and then she drove a wakizashi through his arm. Not that it did much, but at this point, she was probably stalling. “There’s no bounty on me! So why?!”

Of course she was lying. For every mundane ninja there was a bounty. Not very often a decent one for him to go out of his way of the more profitable ones, but she had essentially offered herself up. A minor bounty with an amusing show. She  _was_ fun.

He didn't bother addressing the bounty issue for the moment, though.  “Information is valuable,” he said instead. “You're Konoha, young Jounin.  Recently?”

“Apparently,” she muttered. There wasn’t much to deny. She was on a solo mission and, while she wasn’t wearing her hiate, she had an accent and a style that narrowed down the possibilities.

Also, she may not have realized this was their second encounter, but he certainly had.

“Do you have a name?” he demanded.

For a moment she twisted the blade in his forearm, but when he didn’t deign to twitch, she dragged in a shuddering breath. Aah, the situation had finally sunk in then. The fight didn’t completely leave her, as she wasn’t a crying mess, but she was pulling in her chakra. Hmm.

“You’ll kill me if I tell you anything,” she said. “Intel is only valuable to the carrier if it’s  _not told_ to hostiles.”

He lifted a brow.  “That is true, hence all the scroll fetching nin do these days.”  Here he lifted her, jerking her to her feet. “But tell me anyway.  Your name.”

Blood trickled down from her shoulder and over his arm, splattered on the sun-warmed rocks. Her fists clenched. “Wei.”

 _Nicely done_.  He actually couldn't tell if that was lie or truth.  She'd gotten better. “Good enough. Now, Wei. I assume you want to live, so how about you listen to a little… Business arrangement?”

“Not… not betraying Konoha.” Well, that was predictable. Wei was now swaying just slightly, the blood loss catching up with her. This would either speed things up or cause a rather annoying delay.

He considered that.  “I don't think it would technically be considered a betrayal,” he mused.  “I'm not a Konoha nukenin. I'm not even associated with Akatsuki anymore.”  Let her chew on that bit of info.

“Still hostile... “ She had the nerve to glare at him. “ _Very_ hostile.”

“Yes, for the moment.”  He gave her another once over.  “And you don't have very many options.  Ego or not, you're bleeding and I'm the only one around for miles.”  Besides that  _idiot_ partner of his, but he wasn't going to mention that.

The pretty glare wavered for a moment before she huffed. “What do you want to know?” she asked, doing a fine job of otherwise ignoring her injuries. “I may not have the answer anyway.” Or give it, he was sure.

 _Good girl_.  “As I said, it's a business proposition.  You and I can make a lot of money. But first, your wound.”  He pulled her away from the rock outcropping finally. “Run, and you'll get 13 steps.”

“If I shunshin, I’ll get further,” she groused. When he gave her a flat look, she sighed. “And fall on my face.”

“Good to know you can be taught,” he drawled.  “You'll need that for what's in store.” He released her.  “Back to the river.”

For a moment she stood still, waver or not, and she glanced at the trail going back out of the mountains. “Horrible man,” she muttered, and stalked toward the ravine. It was amusing to watch her hesitate every few steps just to regain her flagging balance.

Shortly, he directed her to sit next to the river, and grabbed his fucking shirt.  He hated being this exposed. Two steps, and he was pulling a small med kit out of his carry pouch.  “Show me the injury.”

In an interesting show of… trust (Practicality? Plain suicide?) the girl shrugged off her vest and pulled open the neckline of her folded top. In the end, he was left looking at the stiff back of a young woman, with a rather ragged slash running from the ball of her left shoulder down the plane of the scapula. Of course, she had left her breast bindings on.

As he approached, she began unwinding the fabric from her arms, rotating her wrists in turn. “You were going soft on me,” she said grudgingly.

“If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have bothered with any of this,” he agreed, and wet a spare cloth.  He began to carefully wipe around the wound. After, he assessed the need for stitches, determining she  _would_  need a few.  “Hold still.”

She stiffened. “I hate stitches,” she hissed, remarkably reading the situation. Then again, Wei had to know how deep the gash was, and what other choice was there?

“Tough,” he replied, and started spreading a topical anaesthetic.  Then he began stitching. Carefully. Evenly.

Other than the occasional shudder, she was the model patient: no chatter, no fidgeting. Most likely, she was debating on what to do once the stitches were in.

Shortly, he was tying the last stitch in place.  “I'm not a medic, but those will hold.” He gently washed the blood away with a wet rag and she sagged.

“Thank you,” Wei muttered, rubbing her hands up and down her thighs. She waited until he had laid on the cover bandages, before tentatively testing her shoulder’s limitations.

He huffed and watched as she tugged her under-shirt back on.  “Don't thank me. This is mutually beneficial. You can't play bait if you're bleeding all over the place.”

“Oh?” She held up the beige fabric top she’d been wearing, the left sleeve was half soaked in red.

Kakuzu wasn't convinced by the casual act, but he didn't bother pointing it out.  “My question is, have you gotten any better at playing honey pot?” He doubted it.

“How would you--” She cut herself off as she let the shirt drop onto the rock next to her. “I’m  _fine_ at it, just not suited for it.” Twisting around to look at him, she frowned. “What are you getting at?”

Of course not.  “You're going to have to learn, then.”

Someone needed to tell her that her glare was the least intimidating expression in her arsenal. He certainly wasn’t going to. “ _Why_?”

“Like I said, you're going to play bait for me.  I'm running low on funds,” which was a lie, “so I'm going bounty hunting.  And you've got the right kind of doe-eyed innocence going. You'll make perfect bait.”

“I’m on a  _mission_ ,” she said flatly, not even blinking at the innocent comment. “How long is this going to take?”

“About two weeks, including travel time.  I have two targets in mind.” He scanned her thoughtfully.  “What's your mission?”

Swinging her legs around to face him properly, Wei frowned at him. “I can’t tell you that. And two weeks? What if I told you I was heading home now?” She winced. “Or was anyway.”

Kakuzu considered it.  “You aren't,” he decided.  She was still relatively rested, and didn't carry anything extraneous.  “Regardless, you have no choice. I can  _make_ you cooperate, but I'd prefer not to.”

“I figured,” she said, sighing. “Two weeks, hmm? Where?”

“To the Land of Tea,” he replied.  “I have it under good authority that both my marks happen to be hiding out there.”  He paused. “Now, it'll be more expedient to take care of your mission first, while we're in the area anyway.  That way, you're focused.”

“Right.” Grimacing, Wei started to rewrap her arms. “You’re going to follow me around Jungle country,” she said in disbelief. “The whole time?”

He shrugged.  “Yes.”

One arm done, she moved on to the other. They sat in silence until she finished tying it off. “Info gathering,” she said, eyes rising to meet his. “I could be here for  _months_.”

That was promising.  “That depends on what you're gathering information on.”

“I--” She frowned at him. “Right. I suppose you would  _assist_ since you want to start hunting soon.” Shaking her head, Wei pursed her lips. “I know I can blend in, but can you?” And oh so helpfully, she gestured at him.

“Henge,” he replied flatly.

Wei scowled at him. “You move like a hulking powerhouse, is what I mean. No one would believe that you’re a tourist never mind a native.”

Kakuzu smiled at her, and it was almost pleasant.  “I have quite an extensive information network.”

“You could… stay with them while I work?” Even while saying that, Wei didn’t look too optimistic. Still, there was that spark of hope.

“No, not really,” he answered in amusement as that little light in her eyes snuffed out.

Rubbing fingers carefully over her shoulder, Wei huffed. “Alright. You’ll follow me anyway, I realize that. You’re also implicating that if I ask, you’ll offer the information I’m looking for.” She straightened her back. “You know I can’t simply believe anything from you, right? I’d have to verify everything.”

He shrugged.  “It would be smart to do regardless of the source.”

Standing, but not without a little wobble, Wei dragged her shirt up with her. “Fine. Just… I’m gonna go wash this, then I’ll be ready to go.”

“Hm.”  He waved her off.  “Don't run.”

xXx

Hinata heard him returning before she saw him.  “Goddamn asshole…. Can't fucking believe his ass…  leaving me in the middle of fucking  _nowhere_ …  Hina!  You still around?!”

Carefully letting go of the trap wires, Hinata hummed in response. With her chakra held down low to avoid detection, he would have to rely on sound. “What happened?”

“My bastard partner abandoned me,” he complained, coming to a stop.  “Just fucking left.”

Smiling, she tossed him a water canteen. “Isn’t that what you did to him?” Sure, Hidan was grousing, but he didn’t look all that surprised or upset. If his partner was the same as him, these impromptu breaks from each other were probably a welcome diversion.

“Yeah but,” he took a swallow of the water, pausing a beat.  Then, “he's not supposed to do it too. He's supposed to be the fucking reliable one.”  He smiled at her then, a cocky twist to his mouth. “Then again, I guess it's not so bad.”

Raising her brow, Hinata let out a short chuckle. “Good thing I haven’t been recalled yet,” she said, and smiled wider. “Come give me a kiss?”

He grinned and stepped over, careful of where he moved, and tugged her up against him.  His mouth descended hungrily and eagerly. As always, Hidan wasn't one to dawdle.

Humming at the feel of his hands smoothing over her ribs, Hinata pressed closer and smiled as she felt him shudder. For all that they’d been seeing each other occasionally over a year and a half, it was still new enough to thrill them both.

Stifling a yelp as one of his wandering hands slid up under her shirts and traced the underside of her bindings, Hinata laughed. “I’ve got a bed in the tent, you beast.” She leaned back and playfully trapped his hand between her stomach and crossed arms. “Come on.”

“Yes, yes,” he purred, and stole another kiss, brief and biting.  “Fucking  _hell_ yes.  We'll give Him a show.”

The first few times Hidan invoked his god’s name, Hinata had blinked, but now, it was just part of their encounters. She couldn’t fault him for keeping his god so close, Jashin was why Hidan was still around at all.

Pulling him with her, Hinata ducked under his chin and bit at his ear before murmuring, “Then take me to bed, Hidan.”

xXx


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Who was that?” she asked, shutting the bedroom door and locking it again for good measure. He hadn’t left any blood trails through the room, but the window was suspiciously left open.

When she had first seen him, all she had registered were the black tracks over his body. During the chase, she had breathed a fast and hysterical prayer of thanks that there’d been pants. Plastered by water as they were, but  _there._

When he had pinned her down that first time, she’d realized that he was more muscle than bone and chilled from the river water. Blowing that burst of fire into his face had barely singed his shaggy hair.

It was only when he had sat down to talk to her that she noticed how  _green_ his eyes were. They were only more set off by the red where normal people had white sclera.

His voice matched his body, a scratchy low rumble with an undercurrent of impatience, only broken when he sounded so very obviously  _amused_.

She had hated it when she’d told him how he moved, but it wasn’t something she could deny. The man was implacable in his actions. At least, for her. Their fight, if it could be called that, was painfully one-sided.

How could she even impair someone who didn’t blink when stabbed? He didn’t even seem to bleed. Did he have blood at all?

Somehow, Tenten was alive. There wasn’t a reason for it, no matter what flimsy plan he had concocted on the spot to include her. To make her intrinsic to the missing nin’s success.

_As if he couldn’t just whip through town and lug his bounty out by the innards_. Chances were, the target wouldn’t have time to scream, because while he wasn’t a low profile nin, he certainly didn’t want attention.

That was what got her into trouble. She’d  _seen_ him. Didn’t matter that it was out in the middle of an undeveloped stretch of land where people were scarce and he wasn’t killing anyone. No, just that she would have reported back to Konoha that,  _Oh yeah, saw a missing nin. He was bathing._ And the hunters would have gone right back out, following her trail.

She knew that. Realized it just as soon as he had seen her gawking like an academy applicant.

Which… was probably what she was doing now. Not one of her best moments.

“Who was that?” she asked, shutting the bedroom door and locking it again for good measure. He hadn’t left any blood trails through the room, but the window was suspiciously left open.

Laid out on the floor on top of a rainproof tarp, the corpse of a heavy-weight man was currently missing his head. The cords of wire wrapped around the neck lessened the arterial spray, but that itself had been mostly caught by a few extra towels. Which were no longer fluffy and white.

Granted, they hadn’t been to begin with, but the few unsoiled sections looked like they should be given the color contrast--and oh god her mind was wandering. Focus, please. The monster in the room was already talking.

“Urdu Nonda,” he said, barely glancing up at her.  “Wanted for murdering fifteen children in a Shadow country school.  Bounty, 32 million ryuu. Wanted dead or alive with proof of capture.”

“Oh…” That seemed… nice of him to pick this particular bounty. She dismissed that thought for something else that caught her attention. His lack of stitches for one.

Having discarded his shirt, he was crouched over the body in a vest and pants, his arms bare. No scars, no stitches, no marks.

It followed then that there would be no marks across his face, if that was how he masked his outward appearance in civilian areas. Or any other abnormal qualities. Such as, his hair was no longer a shaggy mess but now brushed straight and back. And his eyes were still green but lacked the red…

Tenten took two steps the right and sat down on a bed. Didn’t even bother to consider if it was her bed or his. She had other things to think about.

_He was at the bar_. He had been the rude--Oh how could she have missed that? The height was the same, the hair, the  _voice_ even. She’d  _known_ he’d been a nin. He hadn’t even bothered to change his body type.

… Like hell she was giving him the satisfaction of yelling.

“You don’t carry body scrolls?” She was keeping her voice very level. Very reasonable. Neutrality was her mission for the moment.

He looked at her.  “Waste of money when I can just carry the head myself to the nearest turn in,” he said flatly.

There was a body stinking up her bedroom because the missing nin couldn’t be bothered to spend a few coins for a scroll every nin supply store sold. It was possibly one of the few things they never over charged for because more often than not it wasn’t worth the emotional backlash.

That he did this now… “You knew I was done, didn’t you?” she asked, thinking back to the last of the rumours he had supplied her. Her mental list had been complete when she’d turned around and noticed his faint chakra signature had been gone from the neighbourhood.

For a few crazy minutes, she’d considered bolting, but here she was, talking to him over a cooling corpse. He had cut the time for this mission down to a measly four days. Most of his suggestions had been good ones. The few that were off were just old and stale leads.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter, because he had made her a deal and she’d agreed to it. Verbally and, unfortunately, in writing.

“It may have come up,” he agreed with a tiny smirk.

“Right.” For a lack of anything else to do, she glanced over their scarce possessions--she couldn’t look at that face without wanting to throw something and  _oh_ would he enjoy that. She wondered… was it on purpose that he was only now letting her get a good look at him? Since they entered the village separately, he’d always had a hood low over his face and a mask up over his mouth. Even had goggles. It had made her wonder why he had henge’d in the first place.

“Do… you--” Tenten shook her head. She couldn’t. He clearly didn’t need help with the body. Sighing, she reached over and started packing her things. Apparently, she had sat down on her own bed, she was grateful for that.

After a moment, he chuckled and tossed the head in a bag, wax-lined by the look of it.  “Don't worry your pretty head. I'll take care of the gore.”

Slanting a look his way, but only to his feet, Tenten wrinkled her nose. “Please do,” she said. “Otherwise, I’d have to leave an exorbitant anonymous donation to cover the clean up fee.”

She… may have gotten used to him. Now after five days of close proximity, her fear for him had been shuffled to the back of her mind as a constant consideration. Her mission had come first and having him as a constant watcher--and oh did he  _judge_ \--made her feel like she had been on a field exam with a proctor.

It had changed their dynamic. Or rather, settled it.

Now, she tried not to watch as he rolled the body up in the tarp, a look of concentration on his face.  It took him approximately three minutes to wrap it, before slinging it up over his shoulder and walking to the window.  “I'll be back,” he told her.

“Not running,” she replied automatically, and waved.

“Good girl.”  And then he was climbing out of their room, leaving her alone with the faint smell of blood, and her thoughts.

Tenten rubbed a hand over her face, and sniffed again. How did he  _do_ that? The room had stunk just a minute ago and now…  _Wonder if he’ll tell me?_

Oh god. This was how she was going down, was it? Started on the career path of hunter nin because some missing nin couldn’t hide his skin while washing.

By the time he returned, she had put away her belongings and had continued on to cleaning and wiping down the common rooms. She heard a scuff as he came out of the bedroom--considerate of him--and called out from the bathroom, “Kitchen isn’t done yet, so it’s available.”

He didn't respond, but she heard the fridge open and not immediately close.  A few heartbeats later, and she heard a cupboard door.

_Oh_. He was  _helping._  Tenten found herself smiling and shook her head as she checked the tub for prints.

With him working the kitchen and her in the bathroom, it only took them ten more minutes to finish.  When they finally both stood in front of the door, she saw he was immaculate. “Grab your things.”

She blinked at him, and held up a scroll, “Okay,” and didn’t crack a grin.

He scowled at that.  “Waste of fucking money,” he muttered, more to himself than her, and opened the door to leave. Behind his back, she rolled her eyes.  _Re-usable, you miser_.  

Once they returned the key, they got out on the road again.  His mood didn't seem to be improving, though and Tenten wasn’t sure if it was something she had done or unrelated entirely.

There was still a heavy swinging bag with a head inside attached to his pack though. Maybe he was just annoyed to be carrying it. Wouldn’t he be used to it though?

She wasn’t going to offer, that was for sure.

“Where Is the closest bounty office anyway?” she asked when the silence stretched for a few streets. There didn’t seem to be one in town or else he’d have dropped off the head earlier.

He grunted, and seemed disinclined to answer at first.  “On our route, a day and a half.”

Slanting a glance at him, which he ignored, Tenten hummed. “Hungry?” she asked, spotting a few early morning food stalls along the road. Dead body or not, missing breakfast before a road trip was just asking for trouble. Maybe it would cheer him up?

Again, it took him a moment.  Maybe he was actually calculating the monetary loss.  “My dime or yours?”

“If it means we eat, I’ll pay,” she said, carefully not thinking of how much money she had been allotted for a mission that should have taken months. “What’s your preference?”

He headed toward a cheaper-looking stall, from which several tantalizing scents wafted.  “This one.”

Yeah, definitely his preference. She shrugged and followed.

Once they got closer though, Tenten was curious to note there were no signs with prices on them. A few of the panels had peeling paint too. The awning looked a little threadbare and one side of the stall seemed to fastened on with bent nails, rusty wire, and stubborn denial.

_Riiight_.

At least the girl at the counter was friendly. “Hi! What would you like?” she asked Tenten, beaming.

Tenten blinked. “You’re way too chipper this early,” she said wryly, then considered the menu. “What do you want?” she asked him in turn. “I may as well order from here too.”

He gave the girl a suspicious glare, before glancing over the menu.  “The takoyaki.”

“Would you like hot sauce or savory?” she replied still smiling. Tenten had to give the girl mental points, because she didn’t even blink at his scowl.  _Must be used to grumpy morning people._

“Savory.”

“And would you like anything to drink--”

Tenten coughed. “I think we’re fine without. Thanks.”

Miss Sunshine turned to her then. “And you, miss?”

“Um... “ She stamped down the urge to glance at him and mentally shrugged. “Can I get the yakitori? Hot sauce, please.”

The girl nodded before reaching for plates and chopsticks. “That’ll be--” and she rattled off a number that Tenten honestly wasn’t paying too much attention to. She was already reaching for her wallet, mentally relieved that she could pay it all using one coin.  _Counting change would probably make the man twitch._

He caught her hand.  “No fucking way,” he snapped, and dragged her away from the booth.  “What a fucking disgrace. We're getting food elsewhere.”

Tenten had a bare moment to trade startled glances with the shop girl, before she had to concentrate on keeping her feet under her. “Not that I’m ungrateful,” she began cautiously, once they were lined up behind an elderly pair with a kid at another stall, “but I was fine with paying.”

“It was too expensive for a stall that shitty,” he told her flatly.  “It's a waste.”

“Shitty!” exclaimed the kid in front of them and Tenten fought not to laugh as the old couple turned to glare.

“Sorry!” she said with a shrug. On the bright side, when they stomped off with the kid, Tenten and he were next in line. “Anyway,” she said, scanning the prices posted this time, “this one seems more reasonable. Cheaper, at least. Same orders then?”

It didn’t matter to her much, but clearly he had issues.

“Just get us both yakitori,” he muttered, glaring up at the menu.

This time, procuring breakfast went off without a hitch, though the poor guy behind the counter still got a glare for saying hello. It truly was a risk interacting with her companion.

…  _Companion?_

If Tenten hit the road with a bit more gusto after eating, he at least wasn't still fuming.  That was an improvement.

After a while, about an hour and a half, he was looking at their surroundings with a bit more interest.  “There was a fight nearby, not too long ago.”

Hmm. “Well…” She hadn’t used much of her supplies at all, and as usual her weapons had been cleaned and maintained before being stowed away. “Think it’s worth taking a look?”

“No.  It'll just needlessly waste our time.”  He was already dismissing it. “We'll ignore it.”

So they ignored it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plan to expand on this one. It will happen eventually!


End file.
